March 11, 2021

The Patient Experience: Part 3 - E35

The Patient Experience: Part 3 - E35

The Patient Experience: Part 3 - E35

We are continuing our series on the patient experience. In part 1 we explored what happens before the patient comes into your office and part 2 was concerning the actual in-office experience. Today we are going to focus on the 3rd and often forgotten aspect which is what happens when they leave your office.

Ordering/Follow Up on jobs

They went through the entire exam/optical experience and decided to purchase contacts or glasses and 99% of the time they pay and you have to order their contacts or glasses. Timeliness and details are paramount. Orders should be made that day for glasses and contacts need to be ordered within 1-2 days. I give contacts a little grace as you want to make sure you have enough of an order to reduce shipping costs. 

That being said, you can order as soon as you want, but if you order wrong, it reflects on you and your office. As a result, you need to have someone very detail oriented that likes back end work handling your ordering. They not only need to make the orders, but follow up on jobs and give patients updates. This all comes down to organization and having systems in place to be a highly functional machine.

Do not let a patient call you asking where their materials are, your office should be proactive in updating the patients on where their order is.

Checking in Frames and Contacts

When patient orders come in, do NOT trust that the lab did things correctly. We always inspect frames and lenses for blemishes or scratches, and do a thorough inspection of everything we ordered. This is beyond merely their prescription, my staff check coatings, seg heights, material, etc. as well as making sure our person ordering did so correctly.

We have a system of checks and balances and we spend hours daily making sure our patients get the very best quality because we know their glasses and contacts are a reflection of our office.

Dispense/After Care

You have to nail the dispense. They have spent a lot of money and probably do not remember what they ordered. Make sure your staff is excited and can reinforce the good decisions the patient made. Make sure to go over fit, adaptation, and how to use their new progressive lenses, but more importantly, make sure the patient knows they can come back at any time if they have questions or need adjustments.

I have covered this in previous posts, but 30-40% of what we do as an office is take care of our existing patients. Just because they had their exam and have received their glasses, does not end your care for the patient. Always make courtesy calls after dispensing and follow-up on any issues or concerns the patient may have. 

Your goal is to build a relationship with the patient that cannot be beat at other offices or online. Raise the bar in regards to your standards of after-care and you will be amazed at how many patients keep coming back for more!

Join in the fun and subscribe to the podcast to keep up with all the great content coming down the pipe! For exclusive content, be sure to register your email on our website and I will be sending out newsletters and other great bonuses as we go. I love getting feedback, questions, suggestions, etc. so contact me at www.theultimateod.com, on social media (click here for -> Twitter, Instagram, Facebook) OR, just shoot me an email at drlillie@theultimateod.com and I’d be happy to chat!